Morning Hangover: Lessons from Uncharted 2 Multiplayer

I'll admit it: I played a bit of the Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta, but once the game dropped, I was far too deep in managing reviews to actually dive into the game's multiplayer modes. To my pleasant surprise, there's still a good-sized community of Uncharted 2 players post-Modern Warfare 2, and I had no issue finding a match, even late at night. A good gaming experience leaves you with something to ponder, and that evening was no exception.

After racking up a few kills on Deathmatch, I migrated over to a round of Plunder, where I was matched with a pack of 40-tiered players. Overheard in the lobby:

"Awww, look at the baby!"

"That green badge is so cute!"

Once the teams were paired off, my partners started whining about getting the noob on their team.

"Keep up with us, rook."

"Dammit, why did we have to get paired with the noob?"

At some point, as a joke, they tossed me the treasure to load into the box. I haven't played Plunder in months and forgot the toss button, which they probably assumed as they let me get shot up and die. Teamwork (nevermind the fact that I was racking up assists to help them get the treasure from Side A to Side B). Nonetheless, we won the round, people are jerks, I moved on.

I had a completely different experience in my next round. When I loaded up Co-Op Arena for more cash, my ears were treated to the sounds of rapid-fire Spanish and one upper 40s player and one in the Level 50 tier. Rather than drop out because of the language barrier, I decided to stick around and play.

We jump into a game and start blazing through AI bots. For all I know, they could've been joking about having a silent partner, but I doubt it. I haven't taken a Spanish class in years, but some expressions are pretty universal ("Okay," "bueno," etc). Despite the fact that we couldn't convey big details, we racked up a ton of cash between all three of us, and saved each other's skin on more than one occasion. No one tossed me loot for lulz, even if I was a lower-tier player than either of my compatriots. We kicked ass, made cash, and had a good time.

Would you rather play with a group of people who speak another language but play well or deal with douchey behavior from people you understand? Has it ever happened to you?

Share below, and feel free to share your PSN ID if you want to get some Uncharted 2 multiplayer going.